I”m having some luxury decisions to make, not really worth discussing but maybe some might chime in and shine a light on my troubled mind.

I’m turning 50 next week and decided to spoil myself with yet another camera, but a pocketable one this time and not one I plan to use for my business, but something just for fun to record whatever interests me in life. I do already have a collection of short films I made just to give a idea what I like to shoot in my free time: https://vimeo.com/album/2256730 and I want something small, light and easy to carry with me and I do have higher expectations about image quality.

I had 2 camera’s in mind; a sony rx100 III or a Panasonic LX100, the Sony is the only camera that deserves the title “pocketcamera” so it should be a obvious choice but the lx100 does have the advantage of providing more raw detail but both are excellent camera’s.

So yesterday I was browsing the larger online retailers in Belgium and the Netherlands to compare prices and I came across a Dutch store that had the black magic cinema pocket camera on sale for less then half the price, the general price for the bmpcc is 1190 euro (about the same in dollar) but this store was selling it for 520 euro. It’s a store with a good reputation and with a physical store in the Netherlands so it’s no scam, their offer lasted as long as they had stock of the camera.

Both the rx100 and lx100 are around 750 to 800 euro now and I know both will serve me well but now that the bmpcc is at this price I am very tempted, even knowing it is a challenging camera in the field and in post but that seems to be part of the fun. I also have a large set of m4/3 lenses so got that part covered.

Exploring the raw capabilities of this camera interests me most but I fear I might be in over my head when I have to deal with the files in post, I have been looking at many bmpcc videos and only a handful so far looked gorgeous but most other had a pretty weird color, often very washed out and yellowish. Many videos also looked soft, as if they where out of focus and some videos also had blown highlights in high contrast scenes, something I would not expect from a camera that's supposed to have 13 stops of DR. But the few very good ones I saw did proof the camera could provide excellent results in the right hands.

I’m also not sure if the black hole in the sun has been solved and if there still is that “orb” issue you get with carlights or anything very bright like sun reflections on water?

Am I crazy even considering this almost 2 year old camera? I don’t want to wait and see what Nab has to offer now because all 3 camera’s I mentioned are sufficient for my needs and fit within my budget and I don’t want to wait another few months before the next big thing gets delivered plus the current 50+% discount deal on the Bmpcc looks like a bargain, or not?

The Pocket camera is now a excellent entry level cinema like imaging device. Most of the sensor issues have been tweeked and the image that this camera can make under the right conditions is amazing.I would not consider this camera a walk around camera though. The battery issues alone would diswade me.

I have one mounted on a Nebula 4000. The camera battery gives up long before the stabilizer battery. So I stick a few extra batteries in my pocket - the flip side of short battery life is that the batteries are small and light. If I were just hand carrying it I'd power it from an Anker or similar battery on my belt or one of the (brand forgotten at the moment) batteries that will mount under the camera. Or just carry a few extra batteries.

The way I look at it, the big issue with BlackMagic is that (except maybe for the URSA) they don't sell cameras, they sell a lens mount with a sensor and a recorder and the buyer has to sort of supply the missing pieces to wind up with a functional camera. Starting from that assumption, I'm quite happy with them. If I expected a real camera I'd be disappointed. I bought a couple of them when they were half-price here and at that price point adding the Metabones EF SpeedBooster made sense since I had a lot of Canon glass already.

Oh yeah - without something like a Z-finder you can't really use them outdoors here in Arizona. And did I mention the ND filters that I have to carry? Again, in my case I already had the glass and ND filters and batteries and etc etc etc so the BMPCC made sense. YMMV

By the way, one good thing (?) about living in the desert is that reflections off of water are the least of my worries.

This is a difficult one, for my purpose I need about three 64gb sandisc extreme cards to shoot raw, a viewfinder loupe for accurate focusing and 3 aftermarket batteries which brings the total costs about 200 euro above the lx100 which I can start using without having to spend anything extra.

What puts me of the most is that 9 out of 10 videos I have been looking at online the past 2 days looks like crap, it's either soft looking, like out of focus or has a weird color. Philip Bloom, who's work I always liked, made that Venice video which also looks weird to me, washed out and weird looking colors and I don't see 13 stops of DR, just highly compressed blacks and even the original file you can download has distracting moire and aliasing issues.

Also the very few videos I found which looked very good are also a mixed bag of good and bad shots, as if every new shot is a challenge to get it right. Raw generally also looked much better then prores, more detailed, better DR and nicer color. Nailing the exposure seems crucial with this camera for best results and it looks like it's not just a matter of reading the histogram and zebra's but I read that a light meter would provide the best results.

I don't intent to use the camera I want as point and shoot and I do take my time to set up each shot carefully, a luxury I often don't have when shooting weddings, but at this point I"m uncertain the bmpcc is the right one for me, even at it's current high discount price, it might be a bit of a too handful for me.

I can't comment on the BMPCC as I have never been around one, but I would go with the LX100. You get nice stills and nice video in a small package. The batteries and memory cards will be easy. I want my walk around/fun camera to be easy and good.

If the LX100 did not have the (stupid) 30min record limit I would replace my LX7 in a heartbeat. These cameras also work well as POV cameras in working situations.

i was looking at something pocket-able too for a walk-around camera.
cant make up my mind though!
I like the bigger sensor and 4K in the LUMIX LX100
on the other hand the the RX100 3 has a tilt-able screen and will fit in your pocket and seems to be a good all rounder.

Get bigger pockets and buy a Sony A7S... Wink

Get bigger pockets and buy a Sony A7S... Wink

You mean bigger wallet? :) At my last holiday I had my sony rx10 with me which is about the same size as a a7s and it was cumbersome to drag around all day, I really want something more pocketable, something that you hardly notice it's there when not in use.

I like the bigger sensor and 4K in the LUMIX LX100
on the other hand the the RX100 3 has a tilt-able screen and will fit in your pocket and seems to be a good all rounder.

When it comes to IQ, the lx100 is a better camera but it's not exactly something you can put in your pocket, the rx100 you can + it has a build in nd, just like the rx10 which I find a advantage as well.

It's like I said before, this is just a luxury problem and maybe I"m over-thinking it :)

I have no complaint about the picture quality/color/etc.And I do use mine for just walking around kind of stuff. But I think an M43 small DSLR might be better suited if that were my main use. I usually have a Zeiss 18mm prime lens and the SpeedBooster and the Z-finder on the camera so it's not particularly small or lightweight by the time it's all put together. The Zeiss is a really really beautiful lens, but heavy.

I'll see if I can round up a few clips.

Here is one video I found from the bmpcc where there are several really nice shots but a few look out of focus, I"m also surprised how much detail there is, almost looks like 4k downsampled to 1080p in some cases and here I think the color is just superb. Don't know why but this camera keeps intriguing me, even with it's quirks.

https://youtu.be/Uq6ohtuy88k?t=25s

I also liked this one a lot:

ALPINE AERIALS I BMPCC MULTIROTOR SHOWREEL - 2014 on Vimeo

Add my vote to Sean's suggestion of a Sony A7. I've recently purchased the Mk II variant for stills and it's absolutely awesome. Fantastic cameras with top notch full frame sensors.

Andrew

I already have 3 camera's with the same formfactor as a a7s, I want something smaller and easier to have with me all day plus it would mean buying a new lens as well as I only have m4/3 lenses which would take me up to 4 times the budget I had in mind. I"m also not a "still" person, at holiday I usually snap a few shots but they often don't even get used afterwards, my wife is the photographer in the family :)

Noa, I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the BMPCC. I would be the first to agree that it is possible to obtain very pleasing results with the little beast. Most of the time mine sits unloved, cold and lifeless in the back of a deep dark cupboard however on the odd occasion, less and less these days, I charge the batteries, pop on a lens and take it one more time around the block. Invariably, before the day is done I end up disassembling the thing and placing it back where it belongs.

The thing is, the most important thing, that I find problematic is I can't see the image on the screen especially in broad daylight. If I was made of money I would purchase a decent electronic viewfinder, there are several excellent options but they don't come cheap. But then it isn't a pocket camera but rather a different animal altogether. The lack of image stabilization certainly doesn't help, that's for sure. Of course you can bring along a tripod...

Having said that why don't you scratch the itch, buy it, give it a go, have some fun, and if it drives you nuts, as it might well do, then sell it.

And knowing your skills in the videography department I have no doubt you will make it deliver every bit as well, if not better, than the samples you posted.

It's a lovely little camera really and compared to the RX10 nothing but a pain in the butt. I wouldn't sell mine for all the tea in China.

Give it a go, is my suggestion.

Cheers.

Nicely Said.

There have been many times I wanted to get the bmpcc but was held back by the frustration several users reported about the usability of the camera or because of some image issues, back then the white orb and black spot issue was not solved.

There is something about the image of the bmpcc that I find very appealing, IF it was shot and colorr corrected in the right way and it does fit in my controlled way of shooting when I go out and shoot for fun, I never walk around with my camera's while shooting handheld, I always carefully choose my frames on a tripod (or gorillapod if I want to travel light) or introduce movement only if there is a slider or steadicam involved. I"m am a bit of a motion control freak actually :)

I think you are right John, it has been itching long enough and the current low 520 euro price is a too good of a deal, no matter what replacement might be announced at NAB. I"ll go slow on cards to start with, one 64gb card will do, just to get my feet wet with using RAW but I"ll get 2 extra cheap aftermarket batteries and a viewfinder loupe as I understand those are really necessary. I know the loupe doesn't exactly make it a pocket camera anymore but I will be using my 12mm f2.0 on it so the camera and lens will still be a small and light combo.

If I don't like it I can still sell it with a small loss. Thx all for thinking a bit with me :)

Wtf, I was just ordering the camera but when I reached the part where I needed to pay with paypal the 50% discount was not being deducted so I contacted the store, they told me this action stopped last week friday and now it was back again at full price, they forgot to update their website. Duh...

Maybe it's a sign that I should not get the camera :) Not paying the full price, that's for sure, ah well, ordering the panasonic lx100 now...

ahhh too bad!!
I did a month long trip to the North West Pacific area a few years back and dragged along two lenses a 1 Series Canon and a laptop all in the one bag, weighed a ton! , got great images ok, but it was a hassle.
I'm going again this year, I finally made my decision, all i'm bringing is the little Sony RX100 III, I reckon it'll fit into any pocket I have.

Enjoy the LX100

;-)

Well I"ll be..., I was about to order the lx100 from the same store where I saw that discounted bmpcc and I went over to the bmpcc page just to see if they had changed the discount text but they only partially did, there first was a reference on the discounted price you had to pay and that was removed but the title of the page still said in big letters: "50% off!" right after the camera name. So I was again confused if it was 50% off or not since I informed them about it already half a day ago and I send a second mail to the store.

I got an immediate response back where they apologized again because they missed the title discount reference and they where going to correct it right away but then they made an exception for me and offered the camera at the discounted price if I still wanted it so I just placed the order :)

Ha ha, that's so funny. Noa, the trials and tribulations you have experienced in purchasing the BMPCC are a taste of what's to come.

I do look forward to seeing your end results.

Yeah, probably tomorrow Black magic design will unveil a pocket cam version 2 and offer the old version for 100 dollar, ha! I was getting fed up with shooting on camera's that made my life too easy, it's time to feel some frustration again, let's hope the pocketcam doesn't disappoint in that area. :)

Hope you like it Noa. We all need more tech-frustration in our lives! ;(

Hey Noa - good deal!

The Z-finder works wonderfully here in Tucson but maybe in Europe you won't need it. I use the camera without it on the Nebula and I can see enough to aim in the generally right direction. I agree 100% that it's a puzzling sort of thing - small and capable of producing an excellent picture, but sometimes frustrating to use.

I'm thinking of making a wire frame "sports finder" for it.

The most amazing part was they had the camera in stock, in stock! You heard that right, ordered yesterday, delivered today, BMD has come a long way... :) I think this action was stock the store has bhought during the time BMD sold the camera at 50%, they probably have keeping it aside to get some attention to the store by offering it now, just before NAB.

I will start with the very basics, 1 sdxc card and 2 batteries and see from there on what I need, will post as soon as I have something presentable, even if it's a failure :)

Noa:

If you haven't worked with raw, this is a cheap way to get into it. I bought the original BM Cinema Camera for that purpose, and bought the BM Pocket when it was on sale to compliment that camera. To be honest, I haven't shot it much since I got it, due to various reason not related to any of these discussions.

Initially, I adapted to lenses I had for the Cinema Camera, using available lens adapters. I bought one EF to MFT adapter and from there, I can mount all my old manual Nikon glass via Nikon to EF to MFT combination. In additions, I can use my EF mount Tokina 11-16 mm as semi wide to normal lens and my Taron EF mount 17 to 50 for narrower angles. Using those bigger zooms defeats the purpose of of shooting a small cinema, but I haven't pulled the trigger on new MFT glass,

To go real light, I bought some inexpensive c-mount video glass, which adapts well to the camera also. (12.5mm, 25mm. and 35mm). I also outfitted my camera with stuff I designed and built with my 3D printer, to make the camera alot like a 16mm or super 8 of the first 2/3's of the last century. I have started testing footage that way.

There is no doubt that this camera is intended as a cinema camera, which would mean that you shouldn't expect finished imagery out of the box. With the limited settings on board, it is clear the camera footage is intended to go to post processing, whether or not you shoot in film mode, or video mode. The images out of the camera aren't that sharp looking because the wide latitude creates a low contrast image. High contrast increases apparent sharpness. In addition, sharpness, which is added by most camera to output in the camera footage, is not added to Blackmagic footage, from what I can tell. That means that in post, you add sharpeness as well an other attributes, as needed.

I fear that most of the footage posted from this camera is not really ran through extensive post treatment.

So if post treatment is not your idea of the fun you want to have with this camera, then its probably not the way you want to go.

For my weddings I wouldn't dream of using the bmpcc, I need something that gives me a right image from the start and gives me a fast workflow in post, I also need something that easily allows me to use it a full day without having to use tons of batteries and cards. The excitement storm the black magic camera's caused when they where introduced seems to have settled down a lot which probably has to do with how difficult they appear to be in use, in the field and in post.

The image the BMD camera's can produce have always intrigued me and I do look forward to experiment with it. I actually need a camera that forces me to slow down, when I shoot weddings it's always run and gun and I feel that I have that same rush when I go out and shoot for fun, I move fast, shoot fast and when I get home I need to see my shots to know how it really was on location :), I rarely take the time to just look around and really enjoy what's around me, that enjoyment always comes while I"m editing and by watching the finished film.

To me it looks like the pocket cam will be a real challenge to shoot and edit in raw and I do expect a lot of frustrations but I also feel the reward will be big if I manage to pull it off.

Received the pocketcam today, still waiting for a sandisc extreme pro card and 2 extra batteries but managed to shoot a bit of raw with a fast kingston card which seemed to handle raw as well.

It certainly is going to be a learning experience, from shooting to (especially) editing, my pc is too underpowered to handle Davinci and it looks very complicated but did get some very good results colorcorrecting in photoshop's camera raw and then sending the .dng's directly into edius for a conversion to hqx avi, it only is a brutally slow process. Handling the camera in bright sunlight was a bit of a joke, almost couldn't see anything on the screen and the battery life in percentage looks like a timer counting down in seconds, will need a loupe asap. I used a olympus 9-18mm on it, looks like a good all round combo for scenery shots with wide dof.

The dynamic range and how much you can push the image is almost ridiculous :)

Behold! My first rawclip attempt online, shot straight into the sun and NO black hole :)

This time I started directly in lightroom because adobe raw in photoshop seemed to have a clip limitation, I still don't have a idea what I"m doing but it does look very promising. Very exited to use this camera for my personal projects.

But that lcd screen is almost next to worthless without a loupe + the fact that if you use it on a gorillapod and place it low to the ground you have to lay down on the ground to frame your shot, this is definitely a camera to shoot on a tripod at eye height with.

password: raw
Private Video on Vimeo

The dynamic range and how much you can push the image is almost ridiculous :)

I can only imagine! but isn't that the best part!? The post production is basically limited by your imagination :)

noa-

congrats on the new bmpcc and the raw post!

having a new tool under the roof is always a moment for excitement so glad you are enjoying.

i have been reading this thread with great interest because i, like noa, think some of the images i have seen from blackmagic cameras are lovely.

i am excluding all the pixel peeping, dynamic range gab-fest, patterned noise concerns, devouring of batteries, ergo weirdness and every other negative that has been tossed at the bm camera line.

i really like the image that comes from blackmagic cameras.

i look forward to more posts and perhaps some wonderful vids.

be well.

rob
smalltalk productions/nyc

Nice. Very nice raw footage.
Just wondering, did you even consider the NX1 instead?

Let me add my congrats for taking the plunge. I have a BMCC and 2 BMPCC's - it's love/hate all the way.but in the end it's all about the image.

So Noa,

I'd be very interested to know your new thoughts about that BMPCC!

Went out today to shoot some more raw in a Japanese garden, I"m still in a experimental phase so it was just to test out and try to find the best workflow. I put a 12mm f2.0 on the camera and a variable nd filter, I"m going to get a set of fixed ND filter as I have noticed that my current filter does not evenly darken the image if you close it down too much, once you go too far you get that "cross" in the image. I did a few shots at f2.0 but at iso 800 you need a very dark filter to compensate.

I had a loupe with me for focusing and framing purposes, it doesn't fit the screen from the bmpcc as I bought it a few years back for another camera but it helped a lot to see better what I was doing.

I found that shooting with this camera is not easy which is mainly because of the badly lit screen, I could use my loupe but if I had the camera closer to the ground I had to move to that level as well to frame my shot. Autofocussing is very slow, even in very good sunlight and you certainly need to double check using peaking which works quite well.

Battery drains very fast but I got 2 very cheap extra batteries so I can shoot long enough for my purpose.

Then the editing part for raw, Oh boy... Spend the whole day trying to figure out how to do this, my pc is too underpowered for Davinci and it looks very complicated, I tried colorcorrecting in photoshop raw and lightroom but that was a very timeconsuming and frustrating process and then I found a tutorial how to do this in after effects and that is much faster, only the export part takes long but that I could run overnight. So I"m happy to have found a workflow that doesn't take away my enthusiasm for working with this camera.

It's so much fun to see a dark room light up and a strong backlight tone down and reveal all that detail once you start adjusting the parameters, skies which look totally blown out with no detail magically reveal every single cloud and harsh highlights and dark shadows can effortlessly and equally be balanced in the same shot, it's amazing that I"m editing frikkin uncompressed raw with a 500 euro camera :)

Here are a few shots I made, I tried something different in every shot so it is not consistent but it was not intended to be, just some trial and error. That shot inside that house with the backlight windows was very dark where I was standing, I added the before and after shot in the film so you can see how much I was able to recover in the shadows and highlights, there was some moire visible in that shot from the carpet and I noticed some as well on a tile roof but nothing that was distracting.

I"m glad I bought it, I "m sure it will frustrate me at times and test my patience but maybe when I go out and shoot something for fun the following weeks it hopefully will be worth it. :)

password: test (there is also no sound)
Private Video on Vimeo

Just wondering, did you even consider the NX1 instead?

No, I already have a gh3 and gh4, don't need another dslr + I"m very sure the NX1 can 't do what the pocket cam can do in raw.

I"m going to get a set of fixed ND filter as I have noticed that my current filter does not evenly darken the image if you close it down too much, once you go too far you get that "cross" in the image.

I highly recommend the Hoya ProNDs. That's what I use (I have a set in 58 and 82mm because that made the most sense for the lenses I own and adapt the others with step-down rings). Have 2, 4, and 6 stops, but I think with the sensitivity of cameras these days (especially if you're interested in shooting with a more fully open aperture) that 4, 6, and 8 might be a good set to start (16, 64 and 200).

Hi Noa

Looking good!!!

I looked at a couple of the other videos and noticed you're using a Nebula 4000. How do you like it? I just got one a couple of weeks back and so far it's doing OK - I still need more practice though!

I had the Nebula for a few days and then returned it which I talked about here: http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/digital-video-industry-news/527807-nebula-nab-2015-show.html#post1884776

New Nebula clones or even a improved nebula v2 will come out the coming months so I"ll wait to see what that gives, I certainly want one to pair with my gh4 but also bmpcc. It's not that the current Nebula is bad, it just didn't work for me.

I use a Genus Eclipse Vari ND. I shoot with Panasonic Lumix 12-35 f2.8 and the Vari ND allows me to keep it at 2.8 in good light. I use that lens when I need stabilization. On tripod I use Sigma 18-35 at f1.8 with Metabones Speedbooster. Makes the sensor close to APS-C as far as Filed of View is concerned.

Most of the time Raw is overkill. Shooting ProRes (of various flavors) in log might allows you way more room to grade than a compressed codec. It's good enough for most circumstances.

To keep it simple I grade in FCPX. I just started using the Color Finale plugin which gives curves. With SliceX plugin I can even track "power windows" like Resolve.

I get about 50 minutes or so from my Blackmagic branded batteries. My Nikon battery lasts a few minutes more.

There's really no point to use autofocus for this camera. If I'm run and gunish I use the 12-35 and set it to f5.6 or so (depends on lighting conditions) and do an equivalent of a focus to infinity (Panny lenses don't have an infinity setting like good Nikon and Canon type lenses do). Then I just use the vari ND as lighting changes so maintain f.5.6 and deep depth of field.

I use a Zacuto Z Finder made specifically for the Pocket Camera. The point of contact also helps with camera stability.

I use a Genus Eclipse Vari ND

I have one here as well but it has a crack in it because I dropped it :) but it's still usable eventhough it doesn't turn that easily anymore, I plan on getting some fixed nd's anyway, they are more cumbersome to use as you need to choose one based on the f-stop you choose but I won't be using this camera for run and gun anyway.

Most of the time Raw is overkill

I only shot raw so far so still need to see if it's worth just shooting prores only, must say that I find colorcorrecting raw in after effects much easier then doing it directly in Edius but will try the following weeks to see how that works out.

There's really no point to use autofocus for this camera

Is it too unreliable to use? I have used it only on wider landscapes so it shouldn't be confused when I let the camera prefocus but I use the peaking as well just to be sure.

I use a Zacuto Z Finder

I probably will be getting that one as well, it doesn't make the camera exactly pocket-able anymore but it's a must have accessory for this camera.

Noa,
I completely agree. The NX1 can't do what the BMPCC can do in raw.
If you'd even compare the footage of the two side by side, you'd probably feel sorry for the GH4 and the NX1.
But I don't think that's the way to look at it.
Not trying to convince you here, since you already have the BMPCC and a GH4 but most people who are not interested in video acquisition and not video or film professionals will NOT be able to discern between anything shot with a GH4 and a BMPCC. They don't try to, and they don't care and guess what, they might not actually be able to tell what they're looking for. If an F1 pilot takes you on a spin on a track for a couple of rounds, will you be able to tell you're in a Ferrari or in a Porches?

I don't know anybody, I mean ANYBODY, who watches Games of Thrones, House of Cards, and other shows trying to see how many stops of DR the filmmakers achieved, or whether some blacks are crushed, or if the trees we can see outside through the windows of the house are in focus and clear. The audience is looking at the talent, some kind of humans they've never seen anything alike in real life, hopefully there is a story that is interesting and that's it. The only people I've seen worrying about the kind of stuff people worry when they compare cams on YouTube are people who are only running tests, people who have no script, no story to tell, nothing to say. So yes, in that case, when you film a pretty girl just walking somewhere, preferably on a beach with sailing boats in the background, there's nothing else to do but comparing stuff that is totally irrelevant as soon as you are above a certain threshold. In other words, as soon as you know how to use a GH4 or a NX1, have time to create beautiful shots and don't expect to fix it in post by pushing codecs that can't be pushed anyway, you have everything you need. Story, actors, lighting and time. The extra headaches brought by cams such as the BMC with their stupid screens or lack of, bad batteries, etc is really not worth the trouble to create an image your audience won't notice. Yes, other filmmakers will, so what?
But, hey, what do I know.
L.

I don't know anybody, I mean ANYBODY, who watches Games of Thrones, House of Cards, and other shows trying to see how many stops of DR the filmmakers achieved, or whether some blacks are crushed, or if the trees we can see outside through the windows of the house are in focus and clear.

No, the audience at large doesn't know how many stops of DR they are seeing, or what stops is, or what DR is.

However, they will notice the rest as part of the overall image, even if they can't put their finger on what is wrong. They will just know that something is not as good as it used to be.

You are right Larry, if I"m out just trying to capture whatever comes along and if I want to leave in the morning and have something ready to upload at night, I'd take my gh4 or any other camera of mine with me without a second thought, all my personal films have been done in that way, they usually require very little work in post an look great out of the box. I use all my camera's for paid work and here I do like that ease of use and fast workflow as well.

The Bmpcc however is the first camera I have ever bought to be used only for my own pleasure and only to experiment with it's higher DR and raw capabilities. It's, unlike my other camera's, not a camera to only please other people with. When I was colorcorrecting the raw footage in after effects it looked exactly the same as if I was correcting a photo in raw and that freedom to push the highlights and shadows in post I find very intriguing. When I was correcting that indoor shot I couldn't believe my eyes how I was able to balance the in- and outdoor exposure of something that originally looked very under- and overexposed.

When I go out and shoot I also don't have a script or a story to tell, I just try to capture something beautiful, I don't really care what other people think of it, it's something I like to do and if I share it online and others like it then fine, if they don't, that's fine as well. I do have some plans to shoot a short documentary so that will be my first and I want to use the Bmpcc for it, no matter how difficult it might be to use. Since I plan to take all the time I need to shoot it I"m sure the difference between this and my other camera's will be worth all the extra headaches :) Or maybe not, and then I can still sell the camera with a minimum loss. We"ll see.

Noa,
I didn't want to sound like a grinch. You're right. Having fun creating beautiful footage is actually good enough and could be a goal in itself.

Gary,
Most of the time what the audience notice is poor lighting and framing, unless you're using something crazy like the Sony AX 100 that is sharp to the point that is ridiculous.

Most of the time what the audience notice is poor lighting and framing

And I would consider DR to be an element of that lighting part.

Fair enough.

I guess I made an ass of myself
Look at this: Inside the Belly of a Dragon *Trailer* - YouTube
Shot with a BMPCC
https://news.creativecow.net/story/878310

Larry thanks. Interesting article at that other site.

From the article:
“Another big reason for using the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera is its deep depth of field."

One of the advantages of MFT is that one can have deeper depth of field using Lumix or Olympus lenses or Nikon lenses with "dumb" adaptors. At the same time there's Metabones SpeedBooster to give you much closer (but not quite) shallow DOF potential with Nikon and Canon lenses. IMHO having the deeper DOF (and with lighter Lumix lenses that also have Image Stabilization) makes it a serviceable "run and gun-ish" documentary camera (granted some disadvantages). It's small size is a plus when you need to be discreet.

"Wiggins noted that the auto focus and peaking focus features on the Pocket Cinema Camera were useful when setting up shots. Also, to quickly get the aperture ready, he used the auto aperture button and then clicked up one extra stop for a perfect aperture."

I find auto focus slow though and manual focus with peaking to be reasonably fast. Note that the latest firmware now allows peaking to stay enabled when shutting off and turning the camera back on. This is important when turning off and on to conserve internal battery time.

Some use auto aperture (Lumix lenses support this) as a way to get close and then adjust as he does. Many use an Expose To The Right method (hit zebra and back off slightly) but be aware that can create extra grading work from shot to shot. It's best to expose possibly using the hottest area you want to protect in a scene and leave it for those shots. That might be to protect sky/clouds in a daytime outdoor shot. BTW I get burned by this a bit in a recent shoot because the scene started in overcast and the sun came out in the middle of shooting. Give yourself headroom when shooting outdoors with moving clouds.

"Wiggins recorded all footage in camera as ProRes so he could easily check the rushes while in the field and edit and grade the footage effortlessly on his MacBook Pro."

You'd be surprised how far you can push ProRes. cDNG really isn't necessary but for the most demanding circumstances. ProRes is amazing compared to 4:2:0 H.264. I'd only shoot cDNG if I was doing a broadcast TV Spot or when I know I'd have to relight a scene very radically. In fact I'm often shooting ProRes LT for corporate style work.

"I hope to move up to the next step and purchase one of the 4K models"

And now with the Ursa Mini coming out Blackmagic really has a 4K with an ENG style body. Only thing missing is built in ND... but for ENG and Doco working I may not be switching lenses all that much so using a good VariND filter goes a long way. I also think VariND gives you much finer control when it's imperative to maintain an aperture setting for DOF.

Yes, it's amazing, he didn't even shoot that film in raw, just prores!

Gary,

You said: "However, they will notice the rest as part of the overall image, even if they can't put their finger on what is wrong. They will just know that something is not as good as it used to be."

Even though I believe that filmmakers should thrive to create the best photography they can, I'm wondering if the people who will go see Tangerine are going to think that something is wrong with it because it was shot with an Iphone?
Watch the Red Band Trailer for 'Tangerine', the Sundance Hit Filmed on an iPhone 5s (http://nofilmschool.com/2015/05/watch-red-band-trailer-tangerine-sundance-hit-filmed-iphone-5s)

That story doesn't interest me in anyway, but I'm wondering how many viewers will be bothered by the cinematography?